Nov 20th: You Gotta Laugh

Nov 19th: Remembering Angus Calder (Part 2). Huckled At Faslane!

Going...


Going...


Gone!


* * *

These are a few photos I took of old mucker Angus Calder getting arrested at The Big Blockade at Faslane in April 2003. We were there protesting against the Trident nuclear missiles. Angus and myself went up on the bus together from Edinburgh... but only one of us returned. Out-radicaled by the auld historian!

Nov 18th: Remembering Angus Calder

Forget rejection slips and misprints, but let's
remember the dark darkness we're heading for
as we revel in jests and perceptions, tipsy
in this delicious blink

Angus Calder
(from Horace in Tollcross)


"REMEMBERING ANGUS CALDER"
7.30pm, WED 19th NOV
SCOTTISH BOOK TRUST
SANDEMANS HOUSE
TRUNKS CLOSE
THE ROYAL MILE
EDINBURGH
FREE

Nov 17th: Solidarity With The Breton 3

A Solidarity march was held in Rennes on Saturday in support of Gael, Paskal and Kristian who are currently on trial in Paris (details here). Paskal is the guy in the open necked denim shirt. Further updates will be posted when I get them.

The best place for political news from Brittany/Breizh is ABP (Agence Bretagne Presse). It's mainly in French/Breton but there is an English section under "Celtic News".

Nov 15th: Bretons Under Attack In Paris Show Trial

Pride of place in the corner of my living room, above my bookcase, flies a small Breton flag I got a couple of years ago. At the time I was staying in Brittany as a guest of a good friend of mine, Gael Roblin.

On Monday, Gael, along with two other Breton activists - Kristian Georgeault and Paskal Laize - will appear in a special court in Paris accused of being implicated in the Breton Revolutionary Army (ARB) and the bombing of a MacDonalds restaurant in Quevert in 2000.

Gael was released from prison in 2004, Paskal in 2005, because there was no evidence to link either of them to the Quevert bombing. Gael and Paskal strenuously deny any involvement with the ARB and both served four and five years respectively, in remand, awaiting trial, for a crime neither committed.

Kristian on the other hand does not deny that he was involved with the ARB in the past. He served six years in prison for admitting his association with the ARB. But not a shred of evidence links Kristian to the Quevert bombing.

There are those who will say that there is no smoke without fire. But this would be to misunderstand the motives for the previous trial, to ignore its findings, as well as misundertand the motives for the current re-trial.

After the Quevert bomb went off in 2000 the French state - flailing about wildly and indiscriminately because they didnt know who did it and because public outrage in Paris demanded Breton heads to be cracked - came down hard on ALL activists who supported Breton independence.

Over a hundred Breton activists were arrested in the weeks following the 2000 bombing. Paris was screaming for revenge. Nine prominent Breton actvists were immediately detained without trial. The subsequent trial in 2004 of Gael, Paskal and Kristian was a political show trial with no other purpose than to justify the 2000 crackdown and appease the Paris media that "something was being done".

Now the Paris prosecutors, egged on by the viciously anti-Breton President, Nicholas Sarkozy, are once again stirring up anti-Breton sentiments.

Brittany is a country of 4 million people - a Celtic country roughly comparable in size to Scotland, Ireland or Wales - with its own indigenous Celtic language and culture. The French government are utterly opposed to the break up the French state and routinely attack Breton activists, as well as trying to suppress the Breton language. This is another such attack. One of many.

If there was any evidence that Gael, Kristian or Paskal had been involved in the Quevert bombing I would not be writing this article. But not a scrap of evidence exists. This is why I would hope that anyone who agrees with the principle of natural justice will follow this trial, raise it where possible/necessary, and send messages of solidarity and support to the three falsely-accused Bretons.

There is a rally today in Rennes to demonstrate solidarity with the three accused. I'll post photos and updates of the trial next week.

NOTE

The ARB was a direct action organistion not an organisation involved in armed struggle. It as very different from organisations such as the IRA for instance. The attack on the Quevert MacDonalds was done in the early hours of the morning believing the restaurant was empty. This is not said to exonerate or condone the bombing, or to suport the methods of the now defunct ARB, but merely to provide background information.

Nov 13th: Is there a Mixu Paatelainen in the house?

Saturday at 5 o'clock? No problem. We'll give you two rings and we'll be right outside...

Nov 8th: Hibs 1 Caley 2 (The End Of An Era)

If it hadn't been for Lloyd Quinan phoning me up beforehand with a spare ticket for the match I almost didn't go to this one. I had already foreseen the outcome. It was strange too, sitting in the big West Stand instead of over in the East. It was my first time at a game sat in the West Stand. Right behind Craig Brewster's dugout an aw. It was a good view right enough, but I if pushed I'd admit I prefer the pillars that block the view, the craning of the neck, the standing on the seats, the noise, and the half-time banter.

Not that there was much noise at this game. The minute's silence at the beginning of the game - to mark the 90th anniversary of the 1918 Armistice - was extended for most of the match. In short, this was as dire as it gets. The football was even worse than in the Bobby Williamson days. Only Ian Murray and Sol Bamba - plus substitute Steve Pinua - came out of this with pass marks. The rest were a dishevelled bunch, bereft of confidence and ideas. If ever proof were needed that Hibs days as a freeflowing attractive team were over then this was it. The club is drifting rudderless, both on and off the pitch. And sadly, cos he's a legend among Hibees, the manager doesnt seem to know what he's doing, and seems way out of his depth.


Still, it was nice of the heavens to open up and position the end of the rainbow over my usual seat. There was no pot of gold there though. Just the usual troops moaning about how shite Hibs were. I'll be back there with them next week, possibly watching us taking a thumping off a very poor Aberdeen side. Prediction: Mixu to resign/get sacked within the next fortnight.